


Keeping Henry

by JaceRMontague



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Some angst, i softed the angst a little?, idk - Freeform, just a heads up; regina isnt about in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 08:33:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9430220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaceRMontague/pseuds/JaceRMontague
Summary: Emma has spent the last year of her life keeping her son and her finacee hidden from her new friends at her new school but one day when she's on a tour of the local college one of her biggest secrets throws itself in front of her.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i felt bad taking so long away from writing so i posted this. I hope you like it :)

  Emma was walking around the local college on a tour with her best friend, Ruby. This college was nowhere near as brilliant as the one that Emma had had her heart set on. Perhaps that was why this college wasn’t as good; this college had never been an option to her until recently. Until a little over thirteen months ago. Until her heart was shattered.

Emma trailed behind David, the lecturer who was giving herself and Ruby the tour; he was talking less about the college and more about when he had taught them both in high school the year previous before he had quit to teach at college-level. She followed, listening without hearing anything much - humming and laughing in all the right places but not taking anything in. As she looked at the artwork on the walls and the lecture halls she couldn’t help but think about the college she had applied to five hundred miles away. That college was her dream college, it was still an option, albeit one she almost wished she didn’t have.  She had applied blind a year early, as a laugh, just to see if she was good enough and if she wasn’t; to find out how she could improve for the forthcoming year when she would be old enough to attend. She had been accepted for the following year unconditionally, she had been ecstatic and so had Regina, both barely able to wait the year it took for Emma to finish high school so that they could move to coast and live the lives they had wanted for as long as either could remember. At the thought of Regina Emma’s heart slammed into her stomach and she had to stop walking momentarily to catch her breath once more.

‘Are you okay?’ Ruby whispered beside her.

Emma nodded and began walking again, following David who was so caught up in his memories of the year before that he hadn’t noticed Emma had stopped walking for a second.

‘You’re lying.’ Ruby hissed as she sped up to keep pace with Emma.

‘Prove it.’ Emma shot back before turning away from her friend to look at the artwork that practically wallpapered the corridor.

The two followed the lecturer around for another few minutes before he paused and faced the girls, suddenly remembering they were there for a tour of the college.

‘I can show you my lecture hall if you would like, ladies? It’s out of this building, and into the next one.’

‘Yeah, that’s fine.’ Emma replied with a shrug as David turned around once more and led them out of the building and onto one of the busiest sidewalks in the entire city; not only was it the only way between college buildings, it was a public way of right between the city centre and the train station. It was as busy as ever and Emma winced slightly at the onslaught of noise from people talking to busses and cars flying past to the train that had just gone across the bridge beside her. David and Ruby stood either side of Emma through the hustle of the crowd. The trio moved off the sidewalk and onto the grass that surrounded the second building, the crowd around them had thinned to almost nothing as they approached the second building though the noise remained.

Despite the chaos of the noise, Emma heard it.

‘Mama! Mama!’ A small voice shouted. To anyone else it would have barely registered, but it stopped Emma dead in her tracks. Both Ruby and David stopped this time and they watched as Emma span around, searching the foot traffic on the sidewalk for someone. They were about to ask who she was looking for when a pint-sized child, barely three feet tall, dressed immaculately in a white button up shirt, pale shorts and new white trainers, with slicked back brown hair came barrelling towards the blonde with a grin that took up most of his face.

‘Mama!’ Henry shouted once more as Emma took a few steps forward, meeting the small child and lifting him high she span around a few times, kissing his face as he laughed. Emma stopped spinning and rested the child on her hip.

‘How’re you Hen?’

‘Am good. Gramgram is gone be mad.’ He said, his smile faltering at the realisation that his grandmother would be angry. Worry began filling his wide, green eyes.

‘Is Gramgram going to be mad because you ran off?’ Emma asked softly.

The child nodded and his eyes started watering and he looked away from Emma’s face, burying his small face in her shoulder.

‘Hey, hey, Hen’ Emma cooed softly, waiting for him to look up again. He met her eyes once more and his bottom lip began trembling. ‘Hey kiddo, there’s no need to cry, I’ll talk to Gramgram.’ Emma whispered.

She knew she should be worried that one of the biggest secrets of her life was revealing itself to her friend and her former lecturer but she wasn’t. Henry was here, and sitting on her hip and she couldn’t care less what the people standing behind her were thinking. The only person she cared about was Henry. He was the only person she truly cared about and the only person whose opinion she wanted though she had to care a little for the opinion of the fuming woman speeding towards her. The woman was the esteemed Cora Mills. Her hair was scraped back into a sharp bun that Emma was certain hurt, and was dressed sharply in a black pant-suit and not a single millimetre of her makeup was out of place.

Emma took a millisecond to look down at herself. She was in worn-down chuck tailors that were torn in the side of the left shoe, her black skinny jeans were ripped and the black tour shirt with a skull on it was worn and slightly faded from over-washing. Her hair was un-brushed and unwashed and was mostly hidden under a beanie though her fringe was sticking out wildly in all directions. Normally when she saw Cora, Emma was dressed almost as sharply in pant-suits and dresses that Regina had bought her or leant her. Now Cora was seeing Emma in her usual attire. Emma could see the grimace on Cora’s face from where she was stood.

‘Miss Swan.’ Cora practically growled.

‘Ms Mills.’ Emma replied coolly, refusing to get angry at the woman in front of her because she knew that there would be consequences if she lost her temper.

‘I’d like my grandson back.’ Cora said, reaching out towards the little boy sat on Emma’s hip.

‘Before I hand him over, you can’t tell him off for running away. He saw me and got excited and I’m sorry it breaks the rules of the custardy enforcement you have but it was an accident and he’s a kid so you can’t tell him off for getting excited when he saw his mother.’

Emma watched as Cora thought about it, she could practically see the cogs turning in the woman’s head.

‘Fine.’ Cora conceded.

Henry looked from his mother to the outstretched arms of his grandmother and shook his head.

‘I wanna stay with Mama.’

Emma could feel her heart breaking. She didn’t want to tell her son he couldn’t stay with her.

‘Hen, see these people?’ Emma said, turning to face Ruby and David, she felt Henry nod against her shoulder ‘This is Ruby and David. They’re my friends, do you wanna go play with them while I talk to Gramgram.’

Henry hesitated for a moment before nodding slightly. Emma placed him back on the ground beside her and watched as her son wandered over to Ruby and David, she watched as Ruby crouched down and spoke to him and then saw David give him a high-five. Once she was satisfied that Henry was comfortable with her friend and former lecturer, she turned back to Cora.

‘Miss Swan.’ Cora said with a sigh and a roll of her eyes. ‘You can’t just decide to take Henry. As you said yourself, it breaks the custardy enforcement. You can’t just pick him and drop him when you feel fit.’

‘It’s not a fresh decision, Ms Mills.’ Emma spat. ‘You know as much as I do that I never once wanted to be without Henry. That you took him because you had more money and better lawyers. You took him from me by playing dirty.’

Cora rolled her eyes before turning towards her grandson. She was about to call him over when Emma cut in.

‘No. You know what? No. I will not allow you take my son and walk him out of my life once more. I’m sick of supervised visits twice a month that you try your hardest to get out of. I’m sick of having to use lawyer to force you to see my kid. I raised him! Me and Gina. We raised him. He’s our son. You didn’t even want to know him until- Until Gi died.’ Emma paused and took a deep breath, she could feel tears running down her face but she didn’t care.

‘I was the first person in the world to hold Henry, I cut the umbilical cord, I held him close and I wept and I vowed never to leave him. That he would always have a mother. That he would always have his mothers. I drove him and Gi back home and then I drove them to every check up, every doctor’s appointment. I sat up with him all night every night for a week and a half when he had colic so that Gi could sleep. Me and your daughter taught him how to sit up, talk, crawl, walk. Me and her? We were there for every fever, every upset stomach, every dirty nappy, every sleepless night. We put our everything into raising our son and making sure he was happy and healthy. I was there for every moment I could be, I sang lullabies and read bed time stories and watched five am cartoons with him when he woke up early. Where were you?!’  She could hear her voice getting louder but refused to lower it. If it took shouting for Cora to hear what Emma was saying, then Emma would shout.

‘Where were you?!’ She repeated ‘Where were you when he was born? Or had colic or a bad stomach? Where were you when he learnt to walk, and talk? When he said his first word? It was Momma, by the way. It was Gi. She’s Momma; I’m Mama. You were nowhere to be found because you couldn’t stand the fact that Regina was dating me. I don’t know if it was a sexuality thing or a me thing but you didn’t come near her for the entire time she and I were a couple. You didn’t even see henry once in the two years before Gi died. And all of a sudden, your daughter dies and you take our son away from me? No. I can’t – I won’t let you do that to me again.’

Emma’s voice was shaking with tears and anger, she rubbed her face roughly with the back of her hand and continued.

‘I love that little boy so much. My heart aches every time I even glance at him because he is so Regina, so me, so – us it actually hurts. Because I know that I’ll see him for an hour and a quarter and then you’ll take him away from me again. And I can’t do this again. Not again.’

Cora looked the shaking teenager stood in front of her up and down. It took her half a second to think of an argument.

‘Miss Swan, dear.’

Emma bristled at the patronising tone the greying brunette stood in front of her was using.

‘You’re here, looking at colleges. You’re planning a life without Henry. Do you really think I’m going to hand him back to you just so you can palm him off on some childminder so you can go to art school?’ she scoffed.

Emma met Cora’s eye.

‘This isn’t me planning a life without my son. I’m planning my life around my son.  This college? The closest college to where me and Henry will live. I’m applying here because even if you don’t let my son move back in with me, I will be in the same city as him instead of on the coast where me and Regina planned to study. If I came to this college, I would defer my place for a year so that Henry, my _son_ , will be old enough to go to preschool so that he would be spending his days at school and I will be there to drop him off and pick him. I will do this course part time instead of full time so that I will have days off with him when he is ill.  I will complete this course in seven year’s time instead of three so that I can be there for my son and if for a single second I think that this course – my education – gets in the way of me being there to drop him off at the class room door or pick him up, or cook him dinner or play with him or tuck him into bed at night; I will drop out. Without a second thought I will drop out of school to make sure that I am there for my little boy. I would do anything for him.’

‘Would you die for him’ Cora asked, an eyebrow arched.

‘In a heartbeat. As much as it’d ruin me to leave him, to leave him here without a mother. I would. I would die for him.’

‘Do you love him?’ Cora enquired.

Emma met the brunette’s eyes once more and refused to look away for a moment while she answered.

‘Yes. I love him. I love henry. I love him so much I feel my heart swell when I think off him and I think it’ll explode when I see him and get to cuddle him. He is my baby boy and I love him so, so much.’

Cora looked at the red-faced, tear stained teenager in front of her once more, she looked the teenager up and down again, and observed the way that even though she seemed to wear only torn, over worn clothes, she spoke as if she was in armour declaring – or perhaps ending – a war. She took in the way that when Emma spoke about the little boy who was sitting between the leggy teenager and the somewhat overtly polished man Emma had been walking with when Henry and she had first spotted the blonde. Emma stood taller, stronger. Ready to fight for her boy.

The brunette glanced at Emma once more before turning slightly to face her grandson and Emma’s friends.

‘Henry, dear, come here.’

Henry looked up and raced over to his Mamma and Grandmother.

He looked between the two, he was unsure of where to stand. He wanted so desperately to stand with his mother but he was terrified about not standing with his grandmother. Before he could make his choice, Cora knelt in front of him.

‘Henry, dear, how would you like to stay at your mamas for a while?’ her voice soft. Emma could hear an undertone of defeat in her voice.

She watched as the young boy’s face lit up and she looked up briefly to see the shock painted on Emma’s face, her eyes wide.

Henry nodded wildly, reaching a hand out to Emma who wrapped her long, slender fingers around her son’s tiny hand.

‘Are- are you joking?’ Emma asked.

‘This is what you want, is it not?’ Cora asked sharply.

‘It is, thank you. When – how long do I have with him?’ Emma asked quietly.

‘I shall have one of my drivers bring Henry’s things to your house later. I’ll have my lawyers get in contact with you soon.’

Before Emma could ask what that meant, before she could repeat her question about how much time she would have with her little boy, Cora leant forwards, pressed a kiss to Henry’s forehead and walked away.

Emma looked at Henry who was looking at her hopefully and crouched down.

‘Okay then, little prince.’ Emma was unable to keep the grin out of her voice or off her face. ‘What would you like to do?’

‘Can we go in there?’ Henry pointed at the college building. ‘Ru and David said I can play in there.’ He continued. Emma smiled and kissed the top of his head before standing up and lifting her son onto her shoulders.

She began walking towards the duo who had remained seated on the bench.

‘I believe you two promised Hen he could play in the college?’ Emma asked, still grinning.

‘We did.’ The lecturer said as he and Ruby stood up, walking beside Emma into the college.  The blonde could feel he weight of her son as he sat across the back of her neck and couldn't keep the smile off her face. 

‘Mama? Is this what you made?’ Henry asked from his position on Emma’s shoulders, pointing at the framed artwork on the walls of the hallway.  


‘No kiddo, I don’t go to this school yet.’

‘This is school?!’ He exclaimed making his mother, Ruby and David laugh.

‘Adult school, yeah.’ Emma replied with a smile.

‘Woah’ henry whispered in awe.

Ten minutes later Henry was sitting in an art studio absolutely fascinated by a graphics tablet and David's promise that the young boy could print out all off his drawings. Emma sat at a desk less than an arm’s length from her son, David and Ruby sat around the desk, both looking between Emma and the little boy sitting in front of a mac who was apparently the blonde teenager’s son despite neither having heard of him.

"So, that was intense." Ruby started, deciding that her usual tactic if getting straight to the point would work just as well for her here as it would in any other circumstance.

"Yeah," Emma replied with a sigh, tearing her gaze away from he'd son to look at her best friend. "how much did you hear? “

"Not a lot" David answered. "we spent a lot of the time you were talking to that woman, talking to Henry. We didn't hear a lot but I think we heard enough to put at least a little bit together."

Emma nodded, wondering where she was going to start. Was she going to tell them about Regina? How much would she tell them? Well they knew about Henry and had heard her arguing with her son’s grandmother and so she toom a deep breath and began talking.

"Henry's my son." she began "well not biologically. but he's still my boy. Me and his other mom, Regina, we were super close from second grade until we were fifteen and then we started dating. A few weeks later we found out she was pregnant with Hen. We raised him together. It was hard, you know? We were just kids ourselves. I mean I know I'm going to be raising him for years to come and it won't be easy but those first two years would have been absolutely impossible without Gi." Emma could feel her eyes watering slightly. She swallowed the lump that had been forming in her throat and continued. "We raised him together, the best we could until just after his second birthday. Gina died and her mother -the woman I was arguing with outside - brought me to court and got custardy of Hen. I've been stuck in a bitter court battle with her ever since she took him from me."

“oh sh-.” Ruby began but she caught the nod towards Henry and pointed glare Emma was giving her, effectively halting the brunette from finishing her sentence.

Ruby smiled. Normally Emma swore like a sailor. The brunette thought it was kind of sweet that Emma was protecting Henry from picking up bad language. She thought it was sweet that Emma was clearly incredibly protective of the boy, even if the blonde had never mentioned neither Henry or Regina before. But then, Ruby thought, that that was probably Emma protecting herself.

‘Yeah.’ Emma agreed. It was very much an ‘oh shit’ situation.

‘so, what happened?’ David asked

‘Cora had better lawyers.’ Emma commented. She didn’t really know what David was asking but figured this was a good place to start. If he wanted more details he could ask for them.

‘How come we’ve never heard of- ‘Ruby started though she trailed off when she saw Emma deflate a little.

‘A few months before I transferred to our school Gi died and every time I thought about her or how I only got to see Hen twice a month it always knocked the breath out of me. It hurt. It still does. That’s what happened out in the other building. Talking about them was impossible without crying. I think it was impossible anyway, every time I wanted to talk about her, or a memory of her or Hen the words would get stuck. I still can’t really talk about Gi. Henry, now you know him and I’m stuck in this weird limbo with Cora over custardy, I can talk about. Gi? Not so much.’

Emma had stumbled and stuttered through her explanation but she’d got through without breaking down into a weeping mess and so she considered it a victory.

Ruby was wondering how Emma could keep this all to herself, she thought that if she had ever found herself in Emma’s shoes everybody would know about her son and his other mother. She wanted to know how Emma had stayed s strong. Ruby sat there and compared herself to Emma; Emma’s girlfriend had died and her son had been taken from her and had gone to school and aced her exams. Ruby’s boyfriend who she didn’t even think she was that interested in had broken up with her and she had taken three weeks off school to cry into her pillow and eat her weight in ice cream. Emma had spent every afternoon once school had ended in Ruby’s bedroom telling her that he wasn’t worth the tears and supporting Ruby through the break up.

Ruby voiced this and made Emma laugh.

‘You must have thought I was such a sap. Crying for three weeks about a boy I didn’t even like when everything was going on with you.’

‘Nah, I think I thought it was nice to feel like what I’d imagined a normal teenager was like when I was a kid.’

Ruby laughed before she realised something.

‘Didn’t I tell you that your problems weren’t as big as mine like three days ago?’

David scoffed and humour lit up his eyes at this, and then stood and moved over to Henry to see what the young boy was up to.

‘You did.’ Emma replied

‘Oh my God. I feel like such a dick. Me thinking running out of hairspray was a major issue when you were fighting your girlfriends mother for your son.’ Ruby blushed and hid her face in her hands.

‘Fiancée.’

‘What?!’ Ruby spluttered, her hands moving from her face and slamming onto the table making Henry jump.

‘Don’t worry, Kiddo. Ruby’s just being silly.’ Emma comforted immediately when she saw her son’s wide eyes.

‘Silly Ru.’ Henry said with a grin and a laugh.

‘Silly Ru.’ Emma echoed as Henry went back to looking at the computer screen in front of him.

‘Fiancée?’ Ruby questioned quietly.

‘Fiancée.’ Emma repeated.

‘Can I have some elaboration on that?’ Ruby asked and watched as Emma twisted the ring on her middle finger. She’d always wondered why Emma ‘I hate jewellery’ Swan wore a platinum and diamond ring religiously. And now it made sense.

‘Hen’s first Christmas, we proposed to each other. I’d had this ring in my pocket for weeks and then decided that I’d propose Christmas morning. Turns out she’d done the exact same thing. I went to get the ring from our bedroom to propose to her and when I got back to the longue Henry was wearing a ‘marry my other mommy?’ bib. We planned to get married this summer down on the coast before we started college down there. We were both going part time and I was going to get transferred from the store I used to work at to a store down there so that we’d have an income as well as bursaries and whatever other financial support we could get from the college. But then she died and Cora took Henry and I quit my job and I’ve spent the last thirteen months trying to get Henry back and finish school.’

Ruby opened her mouth to ask a question – she had so many of them – but she was halted by Henry tugging on Emma’s shirt. Emma picked up the small child, placing him on her lap, smiling as he rested his head against her chest.

‘You okay buddy?’

Henry nodded as he twisted the material of Emma’s shirt in his hand.

‘All good, Mama.’

Emma pressed a kiss to his hair and wrapped her right arm around his waist, keeping him secure, her left hand moved back to the table, her thumb spinning the engagement ring.

‘What you and Ru saying?’

Emma gently corrected his sentence before answering. ‘We were talking about you, kiddo.’ Which wasn’t technically a lie.

‘Like when I lived with you and Momma?’

‘Yep.’ Emma replied, bracing herself for questions about Regina. Instead, almost thankfully, Henry’s attention was caught by the students walking past the window with pizza slices.

‘Pizza please Mama?!’ Henry said, turning on Emma’s lap to face her.  ‘Gramgram doesn’t let me have pizza.’ He continued with wide eyes that Emma had never been able to refuse before and knew she wouldn’t be able to refuse in the future.

‘Sure, Kiddo.’ Emma said with a smile.

Henry cheered with joy.

‘Now Mama?’ Henry asked.

Emma nodded and placed Henry on his feet on the floor beside her before standing up.

‘I’ll ring you later, Rubes.’ Emma said as she hugged her friend.

Emma promised to email David that night to talk about her college plans and to make a playdate for henry and his son Neal. It was odd. Going from setting up play dates to fighting for Henry to setting up play dates she was half expecting the fall again. To be fighting again. But right now, she was going to savour this. Savour having her son with her. She wasn't going to let him go again.

Just shy of forty minutes after leaving the college Emma unlocked the door to the house she and Regina had shared with their son. Despite transferring schools Emma had never found the heart to move out of the home she had shared with the family despite how big it felt. How lonely she felt when she was in there alone. It's the exact reason she'd crash at friends’ houses or in 24/7 cafes or libraries or wherever she could spend the night. She was looking forward to spending the night at her home with her son.

She watched as her son raced in ahead of her. She wasn't sure how much of this home he'd remember if anything. She watched as he paused as suddenly as he'd started running and retraced his steps. She watched as he sat on the ground next to the front door and un-velcroed his shoes. He peeled his trainers off and left them neatly in the porch. Emma quickly realised that this was something that Cora would have instilled in her son. It was something that had been instilled into his other mother.

As much as Emma hated what Cora had done, as much as she hated Cora for taking her son away from her for thirteen months, she secretly thanked the harsh woman for instilling mannerisms that Emma would never have thought about into her son because he was more Regina than he'd ever have been if Emma had been left to raise him these last few months.

Henry stood still, waiting. Emma laughed a little when she realised her son was waiting for her to do the same with her shoes and so she copies exactly what he had done with her torn up old converse.

“Mama why’s your shoe got a hole?”

“Because I wear it so much,” Emma said softly as she picked her son up and placed him on her hip.

“why?” She smiled. She'd missed her son’s curiosity.

“Because I love it.” She replied. It wasn't a lie. She did love these shoes. Regina had bought her these shoes for her birthday just before Henry was born and Emma had worn them religiously ever since. She knew they were tatty and damn right ruined but she couldn't bear to stop using them. Ruby had thought it was a cost thing and had offered to use her student union discount to get Emma new shoes though the blonde had refused. It wasn't a cost thing. Not really. She had enough money to live comfortably – with her son, until he was much older than he was now. Regina had been gifted with her father’s money when he had died and had, in turn, left everything she owed to Emma and Henry when she had died. The only reason Emma hasn't paid for anything more than a few dollars since was in case Cora had completely disregarded the custody agreement they'd had and Emma needed to pay for lawyers to fight that. And the only reason Emma hadn't been paying for such lawyers since Henry had first been taken was because she knew – she just _knew_ \- that there would be a day when Henry would be living with her again and wanted him to have a good life with her. Not a hand to mouth existence while Emma worked all hours to pay for their bills. She wanted to be around him for as long as she possibly could.

Henry accepted Emma's reason and nodded.

“Pizza?” He asked

“Don't worry kiddo, it should be here soon, I ordered it while we were on the train” she said as she began walking to the lounge when her she let Henry pick a film – Big Hero 6.  She was relieved that Henry seemed to be taking after her taste in films and happily put the film in tv.

Cora’s driver arrived, as promised, that evening. It was during the film and Emma left Henry to watch as Hero and Baymax flew through the sky to accept Henry’s suitcases and toys from the driver. He had nearly five times as many belongings now than he did when he had first moved into Cora’s home. Emma had no doubt that everything was luxury branded.

Emma placed everything in the hall, vowing to bring it up the next morning though she did find her son a pair of pyjamas to wear that night.

While Henry was distracted by the film Emma opened a file she had been handed by the driver. It has her name on the front in Cora’s distinctive calligraphy.

Emma scan read most of it – knowing she'd read it properly once her son was in bed. It was a mixture of how to care for Henry and what he liked and disliked and when he ate and Napped: things Emma _should_ know but didn't.  There was a letter from Cora that Emma contemplated burning before deciding she'd read that, too, that night. There were other sheets filed with technical law terminology Emma didn't really understand. She flicked through until she reached the last page. A fresh custody agreement that Emma had had no say in. Though this time, she didn’t mind; the custody had been reversed, Henry was to live with her full time, in her complete and utter care as his mother and Cora had been granted twice monthly visits. Emma made a mental note to change that. She would, once she was absolutely certain that nothing like the last year would ever happen again, allow Henry to visit his grandmother when he wished and would, every so often, allow sleepovers. She knew how hard it was to lose Henry and Regina. Emma didn't want Cora to be stuck the position she had once been in.

Once the film was over, the pizza had been demolished, Henry had been bathed, dried and dressed into the comfiest pair of pyjamas Emma though my she had ever felt, Emma bought Henry into his room. She told him they'd buy him a bigger bed in the morning but right now he could either sleep in his old crib that he could still sleep in comfortably or he could spend one night in Emma's bed. He had chosen his mother’s bed.

Emma tucked him in before climbing in beside him, smiling when she felt his tiny hands pull her shirt close as he pressed against her. She wrapped her arms around him, deciding to read the documents Cora had sent in the morning.

“Mama?”

“Yeah kiddo?” Emma said, stifling a yawn despite it being barely after 7 in the evening.

“Bedtime story?” Henry asked

“Of course, Hen.” She smiled as he pulled himself somehow closer, cuddling close to his mother, getting comfortable.

“Once upon a time, there was a little prince with a big heart…”

**Author's Note:**

> my writing is going to be really quite inconsitent until i catch up with college but i am working on two pretty big stories that will be up eventually. Also any and every prompt will be worked on at somepoint or another - I have a list of them written on my wall that i'm working on :) 
> 
> also, as usual, every mistake is my own and i will, one day, get round to fixing them/.


End file.
